Summer Heat
by lovelielove
Summary: Circumstances leave everyone at Headquarters stuck indoors during a heat wave. Hermione accidentally discovers Snape's sweet secret.  AU, One-shot, M to be safe.  Edit: 1st of a soon to be Seasons Series.  Look for Autumn Air next!


Completely AU and OOC! Enjoy

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Summer Heat

London this summer seemed more sweltering than usual. The heat wave hit everywhere. The summer sun sunk it's teeth even into the deepest, coolest shadows raising the temperature unbearably. Due to a round of routine death threats, the various occupants of Number 12 Grimmauld Place were stuck in the sauna like building, each suffering the heat in their own ways while aurors worked to diffuse the threats. Percy had holed himself up in his bedroom, trying, and failing, to produce enough cooling charms to chill the small room. Most of the Weasleys and Harry had retreated to the relative coolness, or in this case, slightly less stickiness of the basement kitchen and feasted on chilled watermelon wearing their lightest robes. Snape was no where to be found and Hermione lay fast asleep on a sofa in the library, the lazy heat having defeated her, when Ron and the twins sought the stragglers to invite them to the kitchen. They left her sleeping, her charmed paper fan still stirring the air near her face and her half-read book face down on the carpet beneath her limp hand hanging over the edge of the sofa, and they headed downstairs with a shrug.

The booming thud and metallic scrap of the library's double doors being shut and locked pulled Hermione from her heat induced fiendfyre nightmare, her paper fan fluttering to the ground. In her half lucid state, she heard a muted footstep on the carpet behind her sofa. She groaned as she wiped her damp hair from her forehead and tugged at the white muggle t-shirt, plastered to her body. Sitting up on the edge of the sofa, she raised her arms to readjust her messy bun and froze, her hands at the nape of her neck and eyes riveted on the tall, dark man standing in front of the locked doors. He stared back at her with wide eyes, clutching a parcel in a brown paper bag and a- was that a spoon?

"Hello, Professor," she greeted, her voice a little rusty from sleep, while she lowered her arms. Honestly the man looked like a deer caught in headlights. "What is th-"

He was upon her in an instant, his cold hand covering her mouth, his robes swirling around her shoulders, his- cold? Cold hand? She tried to push the hand away so she could see what it was that he was cradling so possessively. "Fuck's sake, woman," he hissed, stringy hair brushing against her cheek. "Keep still and silent." Just as the last syllable sounded in her ear, the handle to the doors rattled as someone outside tested it. Snape had frozen almost completely still and Hermione had as well, both pairs of eyes watching the handle. The only movement between the pair was the flare of his nose and the rise and fall of her chest as her breath quickened at his nearness. She wanted to know what he was doing hiding in the library with a spoon and brown paper bag. Merlin, he smelled wonderful. The door quit rattling, and muffled voices spoke outside the thick wood of the doors, then slowly trailed away.

Snape's long fingered hand slid awayand he stepped back stiffly. "I apologize, Ms. Granger. I could not afford to let you expose my secret."

"Professor, call me Hermione already." She quickly waved her hand as if to shoo away the formality. The rigid lines of his shoulders seemed to relax minutely. "And what secret is that?" she stood as well, taking back the space he'd placed put between them and tried to peek curiously into the brown paper bag clutched against his chest. He smirked and let her peek. Hermione gasped. Eyes wide and voice breathlessly excited, she looked up at Snape. "Professor! How did you- Where did you-? May I have some, please?" The undisguised longing in her eyes, undid him.

He laughed. It transformed him from a dark wizard to a likable man. The rich sound both startled and filled Hermione with a liquid warmth that spread through her chest and limbs, settling in her center like a fine wine. She grinned back. "I would have been a sad spy indeed if I couldn't manage to obtain such a common luxury without being detected. And yes, Ms.-Hermione, you may, seeing as how I've trapped you here with my secret. It would be very rude of me to eat such a treat before you. Though, I must warn you, I have only one spoon."

Hermione continued grinning and shook her head, "I don't mind sharing. Do you?"

"Obviously not." He raised a brow at her and said dryly, "I suspect that your having dentists as parents, makes me less at risk for any communicable diseases. Besides, one could not possibly hope to eat all of this by oneself in a single sitting."

"Right..." she drawled. "Well then," she snatched the bag out of his slack hands, tore the paper away, and pulled the half-gallon container's cover off. She realized that she didn't have the spoon at the same time it dipped into the tub and scooped out a deliciously cold spoonful of smooth, slightly melted chocolate ice cream. Snape held the loaded spoon aloft for a tantalizing moment before devouring it himself. Hermione's eyes followed the spoon's path and her mouth fell open a fraction as she watched it disappear between his lips. Lord, what lips.

At the subtle clearing of his throat, Hermione snapped her focus her to the now clean spoon being held out by a suddenly smirking Snape. Averting her gaze, she hesitantly reached out for it and then turned away only to settle herself back upon her sofa cross-legged, the tub now perched upon her shorts clad lap. Her thoughts whirled. What the hell? Since when was she attracted to Severus Snape? Of course, after her amiable break up from sweet, simple Ronald, she'd want the complete opposite of the boy: dark, mysterious, mature, intelligent, and completely, totally unattainable. Hermione wanted to slap her forehead and groan, but knowing he was watching her closely now, settled for shoveling an overly large spoonful of ice cream into her face. Which promptly caused a blindingly severe brain freeze.

Snape chuckled as she scrunched her face and gripped her head in pain. Heartless man. She couldn't know that he was absorbing the unexpectedly seductive sight of her in her faintly transparent, damp white shirt and sleep rumpled hair. As the pain ebbed away, she frowned at him, trying to swallow the ice cream still in her mouth. He snickered at her comical face and took back the carton and spoon, sitting straight backed, beside her. They sat in silence for some time, passing the spoon and the slowly melting chocolate ice cream back and forth on the small black velvet covered sofa. He would eat a bit, then she would, too. Snape eventually removed his robes, placing the voluminous garment over the arm of the sofa, revealing black slacks and a high collared black button down. He unfastened the top button of his shirt and the cuffs of his sleeves, pushing them up his bare forearms. Hermione took in his actions from beneath her lashes, her darting eyes continually drawn toward Snape's mouth as he ate, though she tried not to. _Really, Hermione, _she scolded herself, _stop staring!_

At some point Hermione turned her body, legs still crossed, toward the Professor and his own body eventually relaxed against the back pillows. The cold treat offered a respite from the unending heat of the day and the temperature seemed to become more bearable, even cool. They had no hope of finishing the whole tub, though both were tempted to do so in the face of continually reliefless temperatures.

Eventually, Hermione sighed when she began to feel full. Snape still held their means to contentment his hands. "Last bit for me, I think," she said sadly, for half a second, glancing at his lips. His black, fathomless eyes flashed brightly for a nearly imperceptible moment. She thought she had imagined it when he straightened up and turned toward her as well, but the man didn't give her the ice cream for her turn. He instead dug out another small spoonful.

Before she knew what he was doing, Snape lightly clutched the spoon, turning the bowl of it toward her own mouth. Surprised, Hermione locked eyes with him, and found she couldn't tear away from his suddenly heated gaze. When the cold spoon gently touched her lips, she opened for him, letting him in. Hermione's eyes were still fixed to his, now watching the spoon slide out from between her lips. The air was charged, all at once, with a very different kind of heat. And, as if under a spell, Snape reached out to wipe away a bit of chocolate near the corner of her mouth with the pad of his thumb and her tongue darted out unconsciously to lick the same sticky drop. At the brief contact of her warm, wet tongue on his finger, Snape drew in a sharp breath.

The spoon and nearly empty ice cream container, forgotten, dropped to the carpet silently. Snape's hands were suddenly tangled in her loose bun, causing most of her curls to come loose, and Hermione was clutching at the front of his shirt, their lips crashing together in a kiss that made her head swim pleasantly. He was intense and delicious. After a time, Snape gentled the kiss and moved his arm around her to pull her upper body flush against his. Hermione moaned at the contact, opening her mouth to let him in again, their tongues stroking slowly against each other. She slid a hand up around his neck to grip the long hair at his nape as he drew his hands down her waist toward the bare expanse of skin on her legs right beneath the hem of her shorts. Her breath hitched this time as his fingers caressed the sensitive skin, leaning into him more heavily. He groaned her name, arms encircling her waist, reclining back and pulling her bodily on top of him.

Pressed together fully, from their lips to their chests, stomachs, and thighs, all illusion of cooler temperatures vanished entirely. His hot mouth brushed against her jaw, then fastened upon her neck, making her whimper. The sound sent a white hot bolt of longing through Snape's body. Hermione could feel him, like iron, beneath her and she circled her hips against him experimentally. She was rewarded by another broken groan of her name on his lips. Hermione moaned at hearing his voice and then- froze. The handle to the library doors was rattling again.

In an instant, Snape had pushed her back up into a sitting position the sofa, kicked the spoon and container beneath it, and was across the room, back to her, robes on, an open book in his hands.

Hermione's mind was still reeling, her breathing still ragged, face still flushed, and lips suspiciously swollen and pink. The doors rattled once more before bursting inward, Ron, Harry, and Ginny strolled in, giggling at a some joke or other. When they spotted Hermione and Snape, Harry exclaimed obliviously, "There you two are! We were looking for you earlier. I should have guessed, hidden away with the books. There was watermelon in the kitchen. There may be a slice or two left if you like. Hey, did you notice the door was locked?"

Hermione's voice was watery and weak, "Oh. Was it?"

"Yah- bloody old house," said Ron. Then, speaking to Hermione, he said, "Probably just closed the door and it got stuck. Oh, yah. Dumbledore says we're all free to go. The men who sent the death threat were bragging at the Hog's Head and were caught out. So, we thought we'd floo down to the Burrow for a bit of quidditch. Either of you game?"

Snape gently snapped the book shut, revealing the title, before hastily tucking in back onto the shelf; 'Courting Traditions of the Wizarding World. "The invitation is appreciated, Mr. Weasley, but I shall have to decline."

"That's alright, Professor," said Gin. "And you, Hermione? Are you coming along?" Ginny frowned before Hermione could answer. "You alright? You look a bit flushed. Maybe you _should_ come out for some fresh air.

"Ah, no thanks guys. I'm going to try to stay out of the sun and catch up on my reading." She reached to pick up her book, still lying face down on the ground from her nap, and waved it around before placing it back on a nearby table.

"Alright - We'll catch you later then!" Ron and Harry spoke together. Ginny giggled between them, rolling her eyes. "Bye, Hermione, Professor!" she called as waved out the door.

Left alone again, Hermione focused her attention back on an uncomfortable looking Snape standing in the corner of the room. She allowed herself a silent sigh. It didn't look as though he'd be initiating anything more today. That kiss and all that followed had shaken her to the core. As sure as Hermione knew the sky was blue, she knew that she had to have more of him. It had been incredible, and despite the pinched look on Snape's face, she didn't regret it. She could always talk to him about it another time. Snatching up the book she had shown to her friends, she stood slowly, about to head out of the library and upstairs to her own room, when she changed her mind.

Still clutching the book, she swiftly walked to Snape's side, rose to her tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek. She whispered into his ear, "Thank you for the sweets, Severus." His name rolled naturally off her tongue. When Hermione pulled back, the corner of his mouth was twitching upward. Hermione walked out of the room, turning at the door for one last look at him. He was already buried nose-deep in the book he was holding earlier. She smiled a secret smile, making her way back to her room upstairs, leaving Snape behind in the library to brush up on courting skills.

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Hallo! I'm considering turning this one shot into a 4 piece, one story for each season. Let me know how you feel about this one-shot by reviewing! Thanks for reading ^_^

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EDIT: I did turn it into a 4 piece (thought #3 is a WIP and work on 4 hasn't begun.) Each can be read separately, but I figured I ought to add the 'links' to the other stories. Order is as follows: Spring, Autumn, Winter, Spring. Just remove the spaces:

http : / / www. fanfiction .net /s/ 6687585 /1/ Autumn_Air

http : / / www. fanfiction .net /s/ 6755437 /1/ Winter_Wonderland

or go wild and click on my profile! (isn't that easier lovelielove? why, yes. yes it is.)

To my wonderful reviewers! Thanks so much! Every single word you wrote (good or bad) absolutely made my day to know you thought enough of the story to leave a note :)

~lovelielove


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